CENTENARY ATHLETICS WEEKEND PREVIEW - SEPT. 12-14
Another busy weekend is upon us for Centenary Athletics. Football, men’s cross country, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s golf, and volleyball are all in action.
Another busy weekend is upon us for Centenary Athletics. Football, men's cross country, men's and women's soccer, men's golf, and volleyball are all in action.
FOOTBALL
The Centenary football team hits the road this weekend as the Gents will face the Millsaps College Majors on Saturday evening at 6 PM in a non-conference contest at Harper Davis Field.
The Gents raced past the Westgate Christian University Ravens by a score of 42-7 last Saturday at home. The Majors, an NCAA Division III program like the Gents, fell 50-24 at Belhaven in their season opener.
"Millsaps is a well-coached, disciplined football team, and going on the road to face them in Week 2 is a great challenge for our program," said Centenary head coach Byron Dawson.
"It's the kind of test that shows us where we are and what we're made of. We have a ton of respect for them, but we're excited for the opportunity. And we need Gent Nation to show up loud and proud on the road. Your energy makes a difference, and our guys feed off it," said Dawson.
The Gents led the Ravens 14-0 after the first quarter last Saturday and 21-7 at halftime and then outscored the visitors 21-0 in the second half to cruise to the win. Centenary ran 56 plays for 372 yards and had 18 first downs and the Gents' stingy defense limited the Ravens to just 82 total yards and 3-13 on third and fourth down.
Junior Vance Feuerbacher passed for three touchdowns, ran for one, and punted last weekend and will be counted on all season after earning first-team All-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference honors at linebacker last season when he also played quarterback and punted and kicked.
Sophomore defensive lineman D'Qavion Lemons, a former Southwood High School star, leads the Gents' defense. He was named to the D3football.com Preseason All-America Team last month.
Lemons had a stellar 2024 season as he was named to the D3football.com All-Region Team and the All-SCAC First Team.
The Gents, who return six all-conference selections from last season, were picked to finish fourth in the SCAC this season in the preseason poll and claimed a first-place vote.
Live stats and live video are available for the game at these links:
STATS: https://gomajors.com/sidearmstats/football/summary
VIDEO: https://gomajors.com/sports/2023/7/25/millsaps-video.aspx
VOLLEYBALL
The Centenary volleyball team hits the road this weekend to compete in the annual Millsaps College Volleyball Invitational, beginning with a non-conference contest on Friday versus the host Majors set for 2 PM inside the Hangar Dome in Jackson, Miss.
Live stats and live video are available for Friday's match at the links below:
STATS: https://gomajors.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
VIDEO: https://gomajors.com/sports/2023/7/25/millsaps-video.aspx
The Ladies (1-0) return to action for the first time in nearly two weeks after opening the season with a 3-1 win over the Wiley University Wildcats on Aug. 30 at home in non-conference play. The Majors (5-4) have won four matches in a row, all on the road, as they make their home debut on Friday.
Centenary snapped a 15-match losing streak as the Maroon and White picked up their first victory since also defeating the Wildcats on Sept. 24 of last season at home in a match sweep.
Centenary won the first set, 25-11, but Wiley responded with a 25-21 win in set two to tie the match. The Ladies dominated in the third set (25-9), and clinched the win with a 25-18 edge in set four. The Ladies finished with 56 digs, 43 kills, 41 assists, and 22 service aces. The Wildcats tallied 50 digs, 30 kills, 27 assists, and 10 aces. Centenary had one solo block and Wiley recorded four.
Centenary's best offensive set was the fourth and final one in which the Maroon and White had an impressive .417 hitting percentage (24 total attacks – 11 kills – 1 error) followed by their second-best – the first set (.346 hitting percentage with 26 total attacks – 13 kills – 4 errors). The Ladies hit .310 in set three (29 total attacks – 10 kills – 1 error).
Ladies' Statistical season Leaders:
Aces: Junior OH/DS Destiny Labbe (Eunice, La.) – 7
Assists: Freshman S Lillian Mycke (Athens, Texas) – 36
Digs: Labbe – 18
Kills: Freshman OH/DS Zoe Garcia (Magnolia, Texas) - 14
Sophomore OH Laijah Rockward (Houma, La.) played in all four sets and tallied 10 kills, four aces, an assist, and one dig.
Sophomore S Jadyn Harris (Fort Worth, Texas) was second on the team in digs (12) and added six aces and four kills in an impressive debut. Freshman MB Aley Dixon (White Oak, Texas) had five kills, one solo block, and one dig. Freshman DS/S Elize Castillo (Austin, Texas) had a solid collegiate debut as well as she finished with 10 digs, three aces, and a pair of assists.
Labbe added 10 kills and an assist to go with her team-leading number of aces and digs, Mycke had six digs and an ace along with her team-high 36 assists, and Garcia added eight digs, an ace, and an assist to go with her team-best number of kills.
Labbe and Harris both found their way into the all-time program record book after just one career match as Labbe's seven aces are tied for the third most in a single match in the division III era (2011-present) and Harris' six are tied for 10th.
The Ladies will face the Lyon College Scots (1-4) at 4 PM on Friday and wrap up the weekend with a pair of matches on Saturday which will both be played at Belhaven University – versus Huntingdon College (5-4) at NOON and against the Belhaven Blazers (2-5) at 2 PM.
Live stats and video will be available for the Ladies' match against the Blazers and can be found at this link: https://blazers.belhaven.edu/sports/wvball/schedule
The full tournament field is comprised of Millsaps, Belhaven, Centenary, Huntingdon, Lyon, and the University of Dallas.
See the complete Ladies' 2025 season schedule here: https://gocentenary.com/sports/wvball/2025-26/schedule
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
The Centenary men's cross country team is back in action on Friday evening as the Gents will compete in the ULM Cross Country Invitational held at the Sterlington Sports Complex in Sterlington, La.
Live results: https://www.arrowliveresults.com/2025ULMCrossCountryInvitationalMen
The meet consists of an 8k and starts at 6:45 PM. The teams competing are the host War Hawks and the Gents along with Alcorn State University, Grambling University, Tougaloo College, and Wiley University.
The Gents were in action last weekend in the UT Tyler Cross Country Opener at Texas Rose Horse Park in Tyler, Texas. Freshman Zack Wroten (Benton, La.) had the Gents' top finish (19:27.00) for the second meet in a row as he finished the men's 8K in a time of 33:07.25. Freshman Ian Hunter (Princeton, Texas) finished 111th (34:16.23), junior Herman Pride (Baton Rouge, La.) finished 116th (36:59.70), and sophomore Evan Halbert (Pearl River, La.) finished 124th (43:09.42).
MEN'S SOCCER
The Centenary men's soccer team fell 4-2 to the Hardin-Simmons University Cowboys on Thursday evening in a non-conference contest at the HSU Soccer Complex in Abilene, Texas.
The Gents (2-2-1) took an early 1-0 lead, but the Cowboys (3-3) answered with four-straight goals before Centenary added a late goal to make it 4-2. Both teams were aggressive as they combined for 33 total shots – 19 by the Cowboys and 14 by the Gents. Half of the Gents' shots were on goal (seven) while the Cowboys tallied nine shots on goal. The teams were meeting for the first since 2011, a series which the Gents lead 8-5.
Senior GK Sam Brocato (Leesville, La.) played all 90 minutes and made four saves. He entered the match in a tie for third nationally in division III in shutouts (three) to lead the conference and was top-25 nationally in saves and in the top 100 nationally in save percentage. Griffin Cardwell also went the distance in goal for the Cowboys and made five saves.
Senior MF Brandon Guevara (Henderson, Texas) scored his first-career goal just over 14 minutes into the match for a 1-0 lead. The Cowboys, though, responded quickly as Benny Lube scored in the 19th minute, assisted by James Webb. Roughly five minutes later Webb and Lube connected again, with this time Webb scoring and Lube assisting for a 2-1 lead.
Hardin-Simmons' 2-1 lead stood until the 68th minute when Omar Estrada, assisted by Korbin Raef, scored to make it 3-1 and then just minutes later Raef found the net with the assist credited to C.J. Munjoma for a 4-1 lead in the 70th minute.
Junior F Carter Webb (Flower Mound, Texas) scored his first goal of the season in the 84th minute, with junior MF Jacob Ramsey (Baton Rouge, La.) assisting, to cap the scoring.
The Gents will complete their weekend on Saturday with another non-conference contest versus Howard Payne University set for 5 PM in Brownwood, Texas.
WOMEN'S SOCCER
The Centenary women's soccer team earned a 2-2 draw versus the Texas College Steers on Tuesday evening in a non-conference contest at Atkins Field.
The Ladies (0-4-1) fell behind 2-0 at halftime but rallied with a pair of second-half goals to earn the tie against the Steers (0-2-1).
Freshman GK Gracie Rellin (Haughton, La.) went the distance in goal for the Ladies and made four saves while Alexa Rodriguez, who also played the full 90 minutes, made 14 saves as the Ladies' aggressive offense kept her busy all evening.
Senior MF/F Lowrey Lain (Haughton, La.) scored her first goal of the season in the 58th minute to get the Ladies on the board and then senior MF Aubrey Burkhardt (Bossier City, La.) tied the match on a free kick in the 75th minute as she found the net for the second time this season.
Centenary took 30 shots, 16 on goal, while Texas College attempted just nine with six on goal. The Ladies took seven corner kicks to none for the Steers and the teams were whistled for just six total fouls – four on Texas College and two on Centenary.
Leila Barco's unassisted goal in the 16th minute gave Texas College an early 1-0 lead and Abigail Escobedo scored in the 23rd minute, also an unassisted goal, to make it 2-0.
The Ladies continue their season-long homestand, consisting of seven matches, on Sunday with a non-conference contest against LaGrange College at noon.
MEN'S GOLF
The Gents will return to the course on Sunday for a match versus Louisiana Christian University at Links on the Bayou in Alexandria, La.
Junior Aubrey Snell (Shreveport, La.), senior Jeffrey Borchert (Katy, Texas), and senior Colton Mayer (Heath, Texas) will be joined in the Gents' lineup by a pair of rookies – Trey Bishop (Oklahoma City, Okla.) and Mason Wiener (Holland, Pa.).
Sunday's match is the Gents' final test before officially opening their Fall season on Sept. 20 in the Rhodes Fall Invitational at the Tunica National Golf Course in Tunica, Miss.
TICKETING REMINDER FOR THIS WEEKEND'S WOMEN'S SOCCER MATCH AND FOR THE 2025-26 ATHLETICS SEASON:
A new policy requires fans to pay to attend all 2025-26 Centenary home athletic events. Tickets can be purchased online ahead of time or at the gate via credit card. No cash sales will be available. Centenary students, faculty and staff are allowed into every home event free with a valid Centenary ID.
Tickets can be purchased at this link: https://fan.hudl.com/usa/la/shreveport/organization/69826/centenary-college-of/tickets
See the complete 2025-26 home composite schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/composite
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